Kuala Lampur, July 19 -- Seeking to improve relations with critical civil society organisations (CSOs), Parliament has agreed in principle to register an All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) as part of its function, Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof said today.

APPG, a concept borrowed from the UK Parliament, is an informal working group of MPs and senators to tap society at the grassroots level and come up with policies addressing issues such as food security and sustainable development for the country.

It is separate from the existing formalised bipartisan parliamentary select committees (PSCs), which exists to oversee the execution of policies and acts as a check-and-balance.

Ariff said APPG can provide a clearer per...